


Dreams on Platinum Wings

by Mossfire



Series: Wings of Ambition: A Veteran's Tale [1]
Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Action/Adventure, Gen, Implied Relationships, Pre-War, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-18
Updated: 2018-04-18
Packaged: 2019-04-13 22:59:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14122692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mossfire/pseuds/Mossfire
Summary: In a world where the flames of war and strife touch the borders of Hoshido, a young Reina's journey begins all from the slightest glimpse of a majestic creature hovering below the clouds. As insignificant as it may seem, this one event would lead to forging one of the sharpest warriors the White Knight Kingdom has ever laid eyes on.





	Dreams on Platinum Wings

A platinum feather laid in wait amidst a patch of flowers located in a regal garden belonging to a renown Hoshidan family. The sun painted it with multiple faint hues to reflect the flower bed it lied on. Its originator, a winged horse with not so much as a scratch on its delicate ivory body, had already begun its plight towards the horizon beyond the faraway mountain range. In mere moments, it became more and more of a speck in the distance in the eyes of a young girl who watched the flying equine disappear into a swath of clouds. The girl, looking to have just reached the age of adolescence, moved a few strands of her phthalo blue hair out of her face and bent down to retrieve the dropped feather. As she continued to wonder about the now majestic beast, a bell resounded throughout the large traditional home which was later followed by the appearance of a handmaiden clad in a fish pattern kimono. 

“Oh milady, there you are! Your mother was wondering where you had ran off to.” She approached the girl with a somewhat nervous smile and moved to spruce up the young noblewoman’s hair. “She rang the bell. You know that means-”

“It’s time for practice again, I know” The noble child responded politely. Her voice carried slightly more weight than that of the standard noblewoman. Her manner of speaking was less wistful and flighty than that of the typical juvenile, as if many different things were going on in her mind at once and she was forced to internally address them all. The feather only added to this mental tempest. 

The handmaiden, a bit surprised by the girl’s answer, hesitated for a second before nodding and making a quick glance down one of the exterior halls. “Y-Yes milady that’s right. Well hurry now, you don’t want to keep her waiting any longer.”

“Thank you Mizume. Have a nice day” The girl bowed and rushed out of the garden into the exterior hallway of leading to the designated location of her practice session. Her pace only increased when she had realized what time of day it was: almost sunset. Usually her first practice was in the morning after breakfast and the second was at noon, meaning she had missed her second appointment and was already late for her third. The sound of her bare feet slapping the painted wood carried into the room, signaling her hurried arrival. Inside said room, the space was scarce of anything except for two cushions positioned at opposite ends of a chabudai. On one of the cushions sat a lithe middle-aged woman who turned her head from gazing out of the window to face the barefoot minor with a stern look as the latter turned the corner and stepped inside. When this close to one another, one could say that it was like looking at a living, breathing timeline. Both females had the same shade of blue in their hair and same lavender hue in their eyes. The mother gestured to the empty seat, soon accompanied by a raised eyebrow as she opened her mouth to speak.

“Reina, I hope you weren't planning on making me wait until the sun went down. I shouldn't have to remind you how urgent it is that you know your way brush again. Right?”

The young noblewoman known as Reina bowed to her mother apologetically, her head hanging low from the subtle scolding from her mother. Her excessive gazing must have made her lost track of so much time and her cheeks grew hot with the embarrassment at that realization. The idea of someone finding her beforehand staring into space like a wistful kitten was too much for her young heart to bear. “I'm very sorry Mother! I didn't mean to be late, honest! It's just that I saw this amazing looking feather in the garden and I-!”

“Enough.” Despite her simple dismissal, it held an authority that could only come from the confidence of raising a child for most, if not all, of her life. “You can explain to me how amazing this feather was after you finish. Understood?”

The girl now known as Reina nodded vigorously. She was a bit anxious about what would come next as a possible punishment, but now that she was here, she was determined not to flounder. She took up the brush which was already inserted into a vial of ink and brought it to the paper with a furrowed brow. “Yes Mother. Right away!” 

\--------------------------------------------------

“And then it flew over the clouds and disappeared. Like... kind of like some sort of spirit! I don’t think I’ve ever seen one so free and majestic like that; it was amazing! And this is all I have as proof”

Reina had spent the rest of the day after her practice in calligraphy to tell her mother and father all about the few seconds of awe she felt in the garden earlier that day. The sparkle in her eyes hadn’t dimmed in the slightest ever since she began telling the story, enthusiasm and excitement radiating off of her like heat. Now as she concluded, she held the feather into her hand, now growing a faint shade of oranges and reds due to the nearby flame kept by the family hearth. It hadn’t lost its luster at all since the past few hours. Her parents looked between themselves and shared a look that was a combination of both puzzled and frightened. After the lightning quick visual exchange, her father cleared his throat and brought his hand down on his lap to grab his daughter’s attention for what he was going to say next.

“Now Reina, as much as that story interests us, you already know what our stance is on you and pegasi. As majestic as they may be, they are still wild animals tamed by the military as beasts of war” 

Reina winced at the statement. Day in and day out she heard the same criticisms involving her and her fascination with combat, most of them berating her for yearning for something so barbaric and unladylike. The most combat she was aloud to learn was self defense with a puny knife that she always kept under her kimono. It was never enough to just watch a pegasus from afar; she wanted to mount the creature and save the day with a real weapon in her hand. She wanted to be known as something, anything but a generic housewife. She didn’t want the soup ladle to be her weapon. Reina looked at the ground, hands clenched and eyes shut tight at her frustration, a stormy sensation brewing in her mind and heart.

“I don’t understand, why do you hate battle so much? What kind of life is lived shut in a kitchen or a bedroom or-” Her words were silence by a tired sigh from her mother, who gazed back at her with warm but stern eyes. She smiled as calmly as she could, but the strain in her voice was apparent from having to explain the same thing repeatedly.

“A long lived life. Reina, it’s not that we despise battle. Our army fights for a noble cause and risk their lives for the good of this kingdom to fight in skirmishes with our sister country of Nohr or to defend against bandits. The problem is...well…” She trailed off, which gave her husband the opportunity to finish the thought.

“As a noble so young and so frail such as you wouldn’t last a day out there in the outside world, and a girl at that. It makes my heart ache with what terrible things could happen to you out there. Nohrians and thugs don’t care about your purity, your status, or your conviction. All they know is power and control, don’t you see?”

Reina picked her head up, a new but small hope rising in her. Perhaps she had found an opening in her father’s argument. “But I could always train. Get strong, get fast, and with a pegasus they could never reach me.”

“And if you encountered a man who’s proficient in archery? Pegasus bones aren’t tough enough to handle such quick and sudden punctures. You’d be sent crashing down to the depths of hell”

“Then I’ll crawl my way back up and--!”

“Enough of this! You are not becoming a Sky Knight and that is final!” He slammed his hand against the floor, face red with anger at the defiance of his one and only offspring. He stood up and calmly stormed out of the room, internally huffing in frustration. 

Reina was left with her mother to ponder her situation, her small frame sent to the floor by the weight of the destiny her parents had brought upon her. This was the only path for her it seemed, one she could not escape. All she do was stare at the ceiling, hoping that gravity would keep the tears in her skull. She didn’t see her, but she could hear her mother leaving the room as well and closing the slide door behind her. All there was now was silence. Silence and the white feather that was tucked into her clothes, turning the color of flame with in sync with the evening sky.


End file.
